Corruption: ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ Symptom of a Diseased Neoliberal World Order
In critique of the corruption-causes-poverty narrative, Tara Ruttenberg exposes the international community’s misguided attempts to combat poverty and inequality through the unfruitful anti-corruption policy agenda currently championed by leading development agencies.
Development Aid and Human Security in Uganda
Human insecurities regarding food, water, education, and health characterise Uganda, despite the billions of aid dollars that flow into the country each year. The connection between development aid and corruption takes a central stage in this article, which shows how the intended purpose of development aid is largely diverted to meet the individual needs of elites, leaving the basic needs of the majority poor unattended to. The author concludes by boldly stating that if accountability, transparency, community participation, and good governance are not enforced in Uganda, then however much aid flows to Uganda, the common man SHALL remain in poverty and misery.
Degrowth Through a Post-Development Lens
If current crises like environmental degradation and social inequality can be said to be the result of our economic and social systems, the concept of a degrowth economy has been advanced as a possible solution. Degrowth is in direct contrast to economic systems such as capitalism or sustainable growth, and in fact has much more in common with a post-development perspective in advocating for a fundamental transformation of society that will challenge the very notion of what an ‘economy’ is as well as the dominant discourses which shape our perception of reality.
Horn of Africa Hunger Crisis: Why the Politics of Applying Bandages Hasn’t Stopped the Bleeding
Across the Horn of Africa, between 10 and 12 million people are now affected by the worst drought in more than 60 years. As respective nations come together and the international community gets summoned to help, Patrick Mugo Mugo investigates: What is being done? Why have the leaders in the Horn of Africa yet again failed their people so miserably? Why has the UN’s global blueprint of weaning populations off humanitarian assistance been unsuccessful? And above all, are the right questions being asked?
Fueling Conflict in Colombia: Land rights and the political ecology of oil palm
Biofuels have been presented as a solution to many social and economic problems, and have attracted equally strong criticism. In Colombia, palm oil production has been suggested as an alternative to coca, however, as Olivia Gilmore explains, the scheme may cause as many problems as it solves.
Financing Development After the Financial Crisis
The faltering economies and tighter budgets of Europe and America, the traditional providers of development financing, have left organizations and communities wondering where the continued funding of their development projects will come from. In this special report, veteran fundraiser and development guru Jürgen Carls reviews the remaining instruments and possibilities for north-south financing, and argues that the solution may be in a completely new approach to fundraising — an approach based on longer term relationships between funders and recipients, characterized by trust, openness, honesty, commitment, and international cooperation.
Fertility and development: The legacy of structural adjustment policies in Kenya
Women and women’s bodies have become a central element in development. This article examines structural adjustment programs (SAPs) in Kenya, which sought to control women’s bodies in order to reach the desired fertility rates and economic growth. After reviewing the history and ideologies behind SAPs, as well as their contradictory application, this article argues that, when SAPs were applied to Kenya, they led to the implementation of culturally and economically inappropriate programs that were ultimately ineffective. The article concludes with policy recommendations and an overview of current movements.
Poverty and Civil War in Sri Lanka
Aingkaran Kugathasan details the multi-faceted impact of Sri Lanka’s decades-long civil conflict on poverty, emphasizing the role of ethnic relations, migration and public policy in addressing socioeconomic challenges in the post-conflict period.
Social Business: Challenging the Traditional Way to Do Business
UPeace Professor Nika Salvetti draws attention to new approaches in business that strive to diversify the profit-seeking priorities of the business world toward more sustainable and socially responsible practices. She highlights the contribution of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus, whose prescriptions for social business include sustainability, improved working standards, reinvestment of profits within the business itself, and poverty reduction as a business objective.
A Gender Critique of the National Adaptation Programme of Action toward Climate Change in Post-conflict Liberia: Emphasis on the Agricultural Sector
Following fourteen years of devastation, the Liberian nation faces global climate change variability, which poses a major threat to its economic sectors, especially the agricultural sector, which is noted for its cardinal contribution towards the embellishment of the national economy (in terms of employment and the GDP). Notably, most of the workers within this sector are women, especially the rural dwellers, who are = the most vulnerable. In an effort to remedy the situation, a National Adaptation Plan of Action (NAPA) was crafted by the Liberian government, following a global climate change summit held in Bali, 2007. This plan seeks to adequately address the situation, alleviate poverty and foster the process of national recovery and development. Generally, the NAPA attempts to develop the capacity of institution and individual in an effort to address the mainstreaming of the method of adaptation into the national development planning process. However, the NAPA has failed to acknowledge the efforts and ideologies of women, especially the rural women, who are currently and greatly involved in the agricultural sector of the country. Therefore, it is important to involve the women, who are already involved, if the NAPA is to be a success in terms of its goals and objectives.